Former Olive Branch football coach sues principal, district

Former Olive Branch High School football coach Scott Samsel is suing the DeSoto County school district and Olive Branch Principal Allyson Killough, claiming age discrimination and that his First Amendment right of free speech was denied when he was relieved as the school's winningest coach in January.

In the suit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Oxford, Samsel, 52, says he was ousted from his positions as coach and athletic director at one of Mississippi's most successful high school football programs by an "inexperienced and youthful" principal who selected a "young, lower-level coach" to replace him.

The suit seeks damages of an amount to be determined by a jury from both the district, and Killough and reinstatement as the Conquistadors' head football coach.

The district, through board attorney Keith Treadway, said Friday evening it cannot comment on pending litigation.

Samsel, who was reassigned to a teaching position at the district's alternative school for students with disciplinary problems, says in the lawsuit that his reassignment resulted from tension with Killough after he told her he could not continue to deliver "the high success that the community expected of the football team" under changes she was contemplating.

Killough, who replaced longtime principal Kyle Brigance last school year, said at the time Samsel was replaced by Assistant Coach Jeremy Toungett, 35, in January that she wanted to take the school and football program in a "different direction."

During what he described as a contentious meeting over the proposed changes, Samsel says Killough told him he had a bad temper and was "a jerk."

At a meeting the next day, on Jan. 14, Samsel says he was told he was being removed as athletic director and 10 days later, on Jan. 24, he was told he was being replaced as coach and would be considered a trespasser if he remained on campus.

He also claims, in regards to the First Amendment violation charge, that he was punished for associating with people who made adverse remarks about Killough in social media and for organizing a rally, which Samsel denies, expressing citizen opposition to Killough.

Samsel never reported for his reassigned duties at the alternative school in Horn Lake, saying in the suit that it was because of anxiety, stress and elevated blood pressure brought on by reassignment.

During Samsel's eight-year tenure as Olive Branch football coach, the school boasted a winning record that included a 15-0 season and the 2011 6A State Championship.